Hamas calls for terrorist reclassification

A leading figure within Hamas has called for the Islamist organisation’s name to be removed from international terrorist lists. Ahmed Yousef said Hamas must work with Arab and Islamic countries such as Qatar, Egypt and Turkey to lobby European governments to reclassify Hamas. The Gazan government had already received a “positive response” from some European countries, he claimed, while refusing to name exactly which ones. “The International Quartet has said that Hamas will be removed from the terror list if we recognise Israel’s right to exist,” Yousef said. “We will not fulfil this.” The Hamas politician meanwhile defended the use of rockets, claiming they targeted Israeli military bases and not civilians. He also accused Western nations of hypocrisy in their relations with different countries in the Arab world. “It’s not fair for Western countries to support Islamist regimes in Tunisia and Egypt but continue to boycott Hamas,” he said. “Western states are inherently unfair and biased in favour of Israel.”